Communication
by Wahla
Summary: Simple things- even just speaking to each other- proved to be difficult. /My prompt for a contest./


**Standard Disclaimer~**

_A/N: This piece is a prompt I did for the CamoBeanie 80 point contest over on DeviantArt and I thought I'd put up here as well._

_Enjoy._

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He should have listened to Olette when she tried to wake him up earlier, because now he was walking home late with a chill he couldn't shake off. He must have gotten it from lying on the couch too long. Hayner rubbed his hands together, blowing shaky breaths on the cold appendages. '_Damn, when did winter start?'_ he idly thought, wondering if it happened while he was inside lazing around playing video games with Roxas. Shouldn't he at least have felt the chilly windowpane as he pressed his nose against it so many days, waiting for his friends to show up?

The curly blonde boy was almost home-_ but damn his curiosity_- when he stopped at the sound of voices coming from a nearby ally. The musky smell of the dark passage pushed him away, but that particular voice drew him in. Hayner followed the voice, his discomfort giving way to his nosiness, until he could hardly see a figure standing a few yards away. The camo-wearing teen slowly took in his surroundings, despite the moonless night, and realized he was at the sandlot. That meant just one thing, the voice _was familiar_ - very familiar actually - it was _Seifer's voice._

A sense of danger filled him - how mad would Seifer be if he caught Hayner 'spying' on him? However, one thought kept him from leaving; how fun would it be to see what the older boy was doing so late at night? He'd feel like a fucking ninja sneaking around in the dark. In Hayner's head it was decided - tonight he'd be a daredevil.

He pressed up against the cold brick of the sandlot's walls, and began to move inch by inch. That soon became boring, so he did a cool roll thing. However, after scraping his face on the concrete and nearly flying into a bench, he decided to stick to crawling.

Hayner stopped finally, hiding behind the whiteboard that was always in the sandlot, and settled down to figure out what Seifer was doing out so late.

He watched the shadow's too quick moves and the shadow moved like liquid across the struggle arena with an object in his hand, probably a struggle bat, which he swung at about the same pace. It didn't take long to figure out that Seifer was practicing his Struggle moves. The curly haired boy sighed. Didn't he do enough of that during the day? Maybe Seifer hadn't spent enough time beating up small children today. Hayner chuckled at his own wit. Seifer stopped, and Hayner swallowed his laughter.

The older boy sat down where he had stopped, and Hayner exhaled. He was only taking a break. _'Phew!'_, Hayner thought, feeling relieved as he moved to rest his head against the white board. The board gave a loud whine as it moved forward a couple of inches and both boys jumped. Hayner cursed lightly, not realizing the board could even move in the first place.

"Who's there?" Seifer demanded, standing up with struggle bat in hand before he walked over. The younger teenager scrambled to stand up and run. He got a few feet before a blue bat hit the wall a couple inches above his head.

_"Shiiit!"_ Hayner screamed, ditching the idea to be stealthy and focusing on just getting the hell out of there. However, he'd forgotten the fact that it was really fucking dark, and stumbled blindly right over the struggle bat that had been thrown at him. His face connected with the concrete below and he let out a loud hiss - his clumsiness was enough to allow Seifer to catch up. Unfortunately the older boy had better night vision than himself, and when he saw the boy on the ground he growled.

"Lamer?" asked the gruff, angry voice of his rival.

Hayner groaned and sat up, silently admitting that he was caught. He cleared his throat and said lamely, "Uh, yeah?"

"What the hell are you doing here?" Seifer growled.

The curly blonde stayed silent, unsure of how to answer. _'Well, I sure as hell wasn't watching you like some sort of creep or pretending to be motherfucking James Bond.'_ he thought sarcastically, imagining Seifer wailing on him before he even finished speaking, so Hayner made up a lame excuse.

"Well, _uh_, I was on my way home."

Seifer sighed, recognizing the lie, and stating, "You live halfway across town, dumb-fuck."

"Huh…" Hayner stood up, his hands moving across the wall, hoping to feel his way back out here.

"_The fuck are you doing?_" Hayner couldn't see his face, but he was sure that Seifer was giving him a scrutinizing glare.

"Um, leaving?" he suggested, smiling sheepishly. Hayner could almost hear Seifer roll his eyes.

"Don't give me that look."

Hayner stopped and sputtered, _"You can actually see?"_

Seifer scoffed, "Yes, _you_ must be night blind. I'm not surprised that you're lame in more than one way."

"Oh, shut up! Now, if you're not going to beat me up, I'd like to get home before I freeze my ass off, thank you."

The scarred boy laughed, "I'd like to see you make it all the way there."

"I don't even know. If no one can find me in the morning, just tell them you let me go get kidnapped by some creep!"

"That _I_ let you go do that? I'm not your fucking caretaker. Why would it be my fault that you're a dumb blind idiot?" Seifer sneered; mocking him was probably his only hobby other than Struggling. He couldn't actually tell if he was serious or not- ha, he probably was. Why would Seifer give a shit?

"Whatever! Bye! See you tomorrow, but you know what? Hopefully for you, maybe not!" Hayner brushed past him, hands sliding over the wall as he moved away from the boy. He heard Seifer sigh and grab his arm.

"Stop being a drama queen! Knowing you, you probably will go do something stupid like get kidnapped or fall off a fucking bridge," the older boy mumbled, his grip firm, as he pulled Hayner away from the wall. The night blind teen flailed, his other hand clasping onto the arm that Seifer was using to drag him along. His nails dug into said appendage and tried to pry him away.

"What are you doing?" the younger one demanded. Seifer's hand felt like it was burning against Hayner's cool skin, and somehow it had nothing to do with the temperature.

"What does it look like?" the older and taller teenager snapped sarcastically.

"Well, I don't know- _I can't fucking see_ - but I would guess that you're kidnapping me, creep."

Seifer snorted loudly, "Says the kid who was watching me like some sort of pervert."

Hayner sputtered, yanking his arm away from him to yell, "I'm not a pervert! How is that- I said I—"

The beanie wearing teen laughed, his voice mocking as he said, "Lamer, you were short a trench coat and a pair of binoculars." He leaned closer to tauntingly whisper, "But you're a pervert and a stalker too."

Even though he knew Seifer was teasing him, he couldn't help but ask, "Well, if I'm so bad, then why're you helping me get home?"

"You're not very grateful; I could just leave you here," Seifer threatened, avoiding answering the question all together as he grabbed Hayner's arm to drag him home.

For someone who used their words to mock him and fight with him so much, he wasn't acting like they meant anything. Seifer Almasy, his rival - some could say arch enemy - was walking him home like he was some kind of gentlemen and like Hayner was some helpless girl. He fumed silently, working over Seifer's actions in his head. If only he could see Seifer's face- he was sure that would answer a few things for him. The bully's eyes never betrayed him!

Hayner blushed slightly. It wasn't like he paid attention to the bully's eyes— okay well maybe he did, but it was easier to tell what was going on. One could never truly trust what Seifer said - his actions would betray them. Over time, Hayner learned that Seifer had his own way of saying things. It wasn't just a simple code either; it was a whole other language that one had to study to make sure they understood correctly.

If understanding Seifer was a study at school, Hayner would only be in the entrance level class.

"You're being quiet, lamer," Seifer grunted, breaking the uncharacteristic silence that hung over them.

Hayner looked up, breaking his train of thought to respond, "And you're acting weird."

He waited, that silence returning, filling the space where Seifer's witty comeback would've been.

"You're just going to pretend that this isn't weird?" the younger boy scoffed, honestly pissed off that Seifer wasn't saying anything about it.

Quicker than he'd expected, he got Seifer's reply— his back connected with a brick wall that had been most likely nearby, judging by the fact that Seifer didn't have to fling him very far. It was silent again, this time because Hayner's wind had been knocked out of him - did Seifer really need to use so much force for a wall so close? - and Seifer was too busy glaring at him…probably.

"What do you want me to say?" Seifer growled. Wasn't he a little to worked up over this?

"S-say what you mean for once," Hayner coughed, finally getting his breath back. His words startled Seifer enough that his grip loosened. The trapped boy took advantage of that, and squeezed out from between Seifer and the wall.

Seifer didn't grab Hayner's arm again, and it didn't surprise the curly blonde either when he grumbled, "Find your own way home."

Hayner turned around, not looking back because he had this damn strange feeling in his stomach, and walked in the direction of a street lamp.

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He was lucky he'd lived here so long. From what little light the town had and from what he had memorized walking home before, he made it to his porch. With much relief, he stepped into the porch light. However, something caught his eye now that he had enough light to see. A boy was standing across the street, just barely in the glow of the street lamp.

Hayner smiled and waved.

"Thanks Seifer!" he shouted, giggling slightly, as he watched the person jump slightly before briskly turning around to walk away. However, he didn't miss the lazy wave that Seifer gave as he disappeared into the darkness, and out of Hayner's sight.

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_Wow, this took me forever._

_And I think my beta hates me for being ass-retarded about some things. I love her though! 3_

_-Wahla_


End file.
